Polsby and Wildavsky's classic text argues that the institutional rules of the presidential nomination and election processes, in combination with the behavior of the mass electorate, structure the strategic choices faced by politicians in powerful and foreseeable ways. We can make sense of the decisions made by differently situated political actors-incumbents, challengers, Democrats, Republicans, consultants, party official, activists, delegates, journalists, and voters-by understanding the ways in which their world is organized by incentives, regulations, events, resources, customs, and opportunities.

Steven E. Schier is Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science at Carleton College. He is the author or editor of 13 books including The Trump Presidency: Outsider in the Oval Office (2017) and Polarized: The Rise of Ideology in American Politics (2015), both with R&L.

David A. Hopkins is associate professor of political science at Boston College. His research and teaching interests include American political parties and elections, the U.S. Congress, voting behavior, public opinion, and research methods. He is the author of Red Fighting Blue: How Geography and Electoral Rules Polarize American Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats (Oxford University Press, 2016).

Nelson W. Polsby was Heller Professor of Political Science and past Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught American politics for forty years.

Aaron Wildavsky was Class of 1940 Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and founding dean of Berkeley's Graduate (now Goldman) School of Public Policy.